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" C L A R E N C E W H I T E C H R O N I C L E S "
The Online Newsletter of A Guitar Virtuoso
January 15,1998 (Number 12)
Edited by Etsuo Eito
Copyright by Bluegrass Workshop "North Field" 1998
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To post notes to this digest, send an E-mail message to
.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an E-mail message to the
same address with the appropriate word in the subject field.
Back issues can be downloaded at the foloowing web site.
http://www.urban.ne.jp/home/koa7/byrds.htm
No part of this newsletter can be reprinted in any format
without editor's permission.
Bluegrass Workshop "North Field" c/o Etsuo Eito
2-13-7,Kitahirano,Himeji,Hyogo, 670-0893 JAPAN
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[ CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE ]
* Editor's note ......................... Editor Etsuo Eito
* fans in touch ......................... Michelle White Bledsoe
* CWC #11 ......................... Sandy Rothman
* Re: Monkees "Valerie" ..................... John McGann
* non subject ......................... John M. Delgatto
* Re: CWC #11 ......................... John Sievert
* subscribe,CWC #11 ......................... Bob Waller
* Stringbender stuff ........................ Dan Schafer
* Hello to my friend ........................ LeRoy Mack McNees
* Regarding Jackson Browne .................. Michelle White Bledsoe
* Re: CWC online newsletter ................. Ian & Sally Boyd-Bell
* Greetings! ............................... Scoot Murray
* Bluegrass groupie in the South Bay Area ... Stan Wolfe
* Re: CWC website ........................... Gene Parsons
* Just to say hello ......................... Michelle White Bledsoe
* Colonels .................................. Jon Anderson
* Great Job ................................. Scott Nygaard
* clarence ................................. Michael Varhol
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[Editor's note]
Finally I can distribute my new issue of the CWC #12 as each of you will
enjoy in the below. During last four months I received many e-mail from
my subscribers. This issue could not be published without these interesting
and helpful posts. Many thanks for them all! Really appreciate!
I must apologize for not containing the last part of Clarence White's
bibgraphy in this issue again, however, there is not enough space to put
it in this issue. Please look forward to the next issue.
Thank you very much for your great interest & help!
Editor Etsuo
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Date: Thu, 04 Sep 1997 10:56:08 -0500
From: Mark Bledsoe
Subject: fans in touch.
Hello,
I am still trying to catch up on reading all the information that you
have sent me. It is so infomative, I really appreciate that. I
couldn't find the last message I sent you in my box, so I hope you did
get it. By all means you are welcome to share my stories. I also
wanted to ask you a favor. After you do print the last newsletter, and
if there is anyone interested in writing to myself about my dad, will
you let me know ?? I am curious to see if you get any feed - back from
fans when they know that we keep in touch. Let me know if they have
questions and so on. I would appreciate it. I love the fact that
everyone to this day is still so interested in my father and his music.
I thank you, again.
Sincerely,
Michelle White Bledsoe ** P.S. I am eventually going to get my own
e-mail address. When I do, I'll be sure to give it to you.
Bye for now.
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Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 07:06:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: Sandy Rothman
Subject: CWC #11
Etsuo-san,
Issue #11 looks really great. One of the best ever!! I liked your "Editor's
Notes" a lot. I hope you get a good response from many people...I think you
will...and maybe Michelle's story will inspire other people to write similar
recollections of Clarence for the CWC. BTW -- I wonder how old Michelle is
now? Is her year of birth in her email address?? Many people may wonder how
old she was when her father was killed. It's nice that she was so easy with
you about her story that I changed.
It's very strange about that night in the hotel dining room, or conference
room, where Bill hired Roland. I remember very, very little about it. I have
tried to recall it many times, but I cannot. Sometimes I thought I dreamed it,
but I really was there (for some reason, I don't know why). I only remember
that I was sitting at the very end of a long, rectangular table with a
standard hotel-type white tablecloth on it, and could not really hear the
discussion between Bill and the White Brothers. I vaguely knew what was going
on, but I was not close. Not long ago I told this same fragment to Tom Ewing
for his column's research (30 Years Ago This Month), and I think Tom was able
to get more information about that fateful conference. I will ask him what he
knows, and maybe he'll write to you (he doesn't have email yet). I'll also
try to think, who else was in the room that night? I'm sure many people will
remember better than me. I knew Bill needed a guitar player and I remember
that my mind was very crazy that night, thinking that I should ask Bill for
a job again, too -- especially after I heard that Clarence had politely
declined.
BTW: The repairman who put Clarence's D-18 back together was Herb David of
Ann Arbor. I think he's still there. (You could interview him!) I saw the
guitar right after CW got it back, and Roland is correct in saying that CW
thought it sounded the same if not better. Everyone was extremely surprised.
Your friend,
Sandy
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Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 14:54:06 -0500
From: John McGann
Subject: Re: Monkees' "Valerie"
I am almost positive this would be Tommy Tedesco on that track, and not
Clarence-it just doesn't sound like him, based on knowing his style. But I
may be wrong...
Many thanks for issue #11, especially for Michelle sharing her memories
with us. So much emotion...
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Date: Sat, 13 Sep 1997 14:50:28 -0700
From: sierra1@jps.net (Sierra Records)
Dear Etsuo:
Got your latest email. Concerning the person correcting me about the use
of the string bender by Clarence on the "Sweathearts of the Rodeo" album.
My information came from Clarence! Now, maybe Clarence did remember the
exact events but we can't ask him. Bob Warford does have the second
Telecaster that had a bender made for it by Gene Parsons. It was
Clarence's at one time. So, I can only relay what Clarence told me. Bob
might be in a better position to response.
I glad Michelle got in contact with you as I am the one who gave her your
address. I have the complete discography of Clarence if anyone once one.
The Colonels released three four singles. As the Country Boys on Republic
and Sundown, one on Briar, one on World Pacific (the two cuts that appear
on the latest UK mess). There were two Tut Taylor albums on World Pacfic,
the first one "12-string" dobro had Bill Keith and Chris Hillman, the
second "Dobro Country" had Clarence, Roland, Billy Ray Lathum.
Did you receive the Kentucky Colonels CDs I sent you? The original Sierra
release is more complete than the MSI Japanese release as I have been told.
There are more surprises in story. WE HAVE A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS:
sierrra1@jps.net
And of course our web site: www.sierra-records.com
You be seeing some rare photos show up on the site soon.
Best regards,
John Delgatto
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Date: Mon, 15 Sep 1997 14:30:43 -0800
From: Jon Sievert
Subject: Re: CWC online newsletter #11
Dear Etsuo,
Thanks for the latest issue. Bill Sweeney is correct when he says that
Clarence did not use the bender on "Sweethearts of the Rodeo." According to
Gene Parsons, who I interviewed extensively about Clarence about 10 years
ago, he and Clarence invented the bender as a result of that album. They
wanted to avoid the necessity of taking a steel player on the road to
duplicate the licks of "You Ain't Going Nowhere." The rest, as they say, is
history.
Jon Sievert
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From: "Slip.Net User"
Subject: subscribe; CWC #11
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 10:18:13 -0700
Dear Etsuo,
Thank you so much for sending me your newsletter. My older brother Butch
introduced me to Clarence White in November 1964 when the Colonels were
playing in Berkeley, and I met him once again a few years later at a Byrds
gig in San Francisco. he didn't remember me, and I didn't really expect him
to, but his willingness to stop and talk impressed me. He said "How've you
been?" I always remember that, and relate it to the dedication statement on
the Muleskinner album: "To Clarence White, virtuoso human being and
guitarist."
I would love to read whatever back issues you could send me at this e-mail
address (i just got a new computer).
Thank you so much again, and thank you for your work. It is truly a labor
of love.
Very Truly Yours,
Bob Waller
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From: BenderGuy@aol.com
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 14:18:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Stringbender stuff
If your interested Clarence White 'B' Bender or 'StringBender' Guitar ,Please
check out my new web pages at:
http://members.tripod.com/~TimAshley/schafer.html
sign the guest book,,
http://www.fan.net.au/~ronnie/Daniel.html
This is the link from the MAIN page http://www.fan.net.au/~ronnie/Shania.html
thanx! Dan Schafer
I also have a video coming out with a new 'bender' device called the Epiphone
'E-Z Bender' which I show and talk about Clarence White in this video, too.
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From: LMMcNees@aol.com
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 12:27:26 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Hello to my friend
Etsuo;
I am so glad you have a web site for CWC now thats great.
Jan and I had a wonderful time in Canada again this year . We went as far
as Newfoundland . We were at eight Bluegrass festivals. I did several Dobro
workshops and played with several bands as a guest . We drove our motorhome
11,500 miles in all this summer. But we are back home and getting back to
normal. We are flying back to Louisville Ky. next monday for the IBMA. I
wish you could be there.
Well must go now , please give our love to Yukimi and the children.
"You Have a friend in California that misses you "
LEROY & JAN
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Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 12:16:29 -0500
From: Mark Bledsoe
Subject: reply reguarding Jackson Browne
Hello Mr. Eito,
My apologies for not getting back with you sooner. Things are pretty
hectic around here.
To get back to your questions. My mother and father were married March
14th, 1964. I was born two years later in Burbank California.
As far as memories of Jackson Browne go, my father was very fond of
Jackson Browne and thought he showed promise of being really good, and
was giving him private lessons at Mr. Browne's home. I remember my
father mentioning that and I also remember seeing his address several
times in my mother's address book. That's pretty much it as far as the
memories I've had of my father and Jackson Browne.
I really appreciate this newsletter and all of the great enthusiam
everyone has in my father Clarence White, the Byrds, and all the good
early Rock. This is so cool.
I would be happy to recall memories from time to time to share with the
fans.
Signing off for now.
Michelle White Bledsoe **
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Date: Sun, 02 Nov 1997 22:33:50 +1300
From: Ian & Sally Boyd-Bell
Subject: Re: CWC online newsletter
Greetings, Etsuo
I am very pleased to receive your reply to my message.
I have been a fan of the Byrds for many years, and also a bluegrass fan. It
was a privilege for me in 1978 to see a concert in Auckland New Zealand
featuring McGuinn, Clark and Hillman of the Byrds. That was a very
memorable night.
Like many other people I first got to hear Clarence White in The Byrds.
Some of his great moments are on the Untitled album - for example the string
bending and sustain on Yesterday's train and on Chestnut Mare.
I have all of The Byrds albums, including two bootleg releases featuring
Clarence.
My only other Clarence White tracks are an Arlo Guthrie album and on
Kindling by Gene Parsons. I have never seen any other Clarence or Kentucky
Colonels material in the shops and I don't know of any other Clarence fans
in New Zealand.
I am hopeful that there may be a box set release or a video some day. Do
you know of any?
Best wishes,
Ian Boyd-Bell
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From: "scott murray"
Subject: greetings!
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 12:22:17 PST
HI Etsuo!
Just wanted to commend you and thank you for the great service you
provide us Clarence fans and in helping spread the word about this
amazing musician and human being.
I'd like to join your roster of readers and friends, and I'm providing
some info about myself...
name: scott murray
email: sliding@hotmail.com
born: July 19, 1973
instruments: 3 acoustic guitars(Dean,Yamaha,and Hohner),Kentucky
mandolin, Czech fiddle, Kay banjo, and BMI 10string e9 pedal steel.
I hope to add a Telecaster with Hipshot B,G, and low E bender soon. As
well as dobro.
began to play: guitar at age 14, adding banjo,mandolin,fiddle, and steel
most recently.
first heard Clarence: on Appalachian Swing when I was heavy into
bluegrass. It took a little while for me to hear what differentiated him
much from Doc Watson, who had long been a hero of mine. Upon subsequent
listenings to that and the other Rounder releases, I was totally blown
away by his intricate approach to rhythm, crosspicking,etc. and his tone
and attack... completely unmatched!!!
I discovered his electric work when I got my steel and really started
hunting for more country-ish stuff. WOW!!"Tulsa County" and "All I Have
is Memories" from the new Sweetheart release are particular standouts
for me. Also "Nashville West". I'd love to hear more of that Bakersfield
session work listed in your discography.
comments: Have you heard of a guitarist named Larry Keel? He is from
Natural Bridge, Virginia, and has won the Telluride Flatpicking Contest
3 years in a row. He's really busy and hasn't really discovered the
internet, but he's looking forward to meeting you soon. He too is a
disciple of Clarence and really sounds like he's channeling Mr. White
sometimes! More so to my ears than Rice, Barenberg, etc... He plays his
own brand of psychedelic reggae/bluegrass with his wife Jenny on bass,
and Christian, their mandolin player. His first CD as the Larry Keel
Experience will be out momentarily on a small label, and I'm hoping it
launches him into the recognition he deserves. I'll try and get some of
his music to you soon.
Thanks again Etsuo, and drop me a line if you get the time.
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From: StanWolfe@aol.com
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 13:16:45 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Bluegrass groupie in the South Bay Area
Etsuo, this responds to your question about whether I knew Sandy Rothman and
others in the 1960s. When I saw and heard Clarence and the Kentucky Colonels
play at the Cabale Creamery in Berkeley, California in 1963 I was living in
San Jose, California (where I live now), which is about 50-miles south of
Berkeley. No, I didn't really know the people you listed, except that I,
like everyone who was hanging around the bluegrass scene then, certainly knew
the names Sandy Rothman, Rick Shubb, and Herb Pederson (don't know of Otis
Brooks that you mentioned). I only knew their names by my being a frequent
audience member. I did hang around with local musicians here in San Jose for
awhile hoping some flatpicking would rub off, but it was Clarence White most
of all, and Doc Watson, that I wanted to emulate and it was their records I
played over and over. Except for one or two songs that I just plain
memorized, like Beaumont Rag, Footprints in the Snow, etc., I never really
came close to playing like CW. Some of the names of people I knew and/or had
the good fortune to play music with as a "bluegrass groupie" here in the
South San Franisco Bay area in the 1960s and early 1970s included: Tom Webb
(banjo); Dave Loughmiller (guitar); John Massey (guitar flatpicker); Pete
Grant (banjo, guitar. I believe he went on to be a backup musician to Hoyt
Axton and others); Dan Auerbach (mandolin); Pat Simmons (guitar. He went on
to be a Doobie Brother); Dick Hough (banjo); and occasionally, Dave Nelson
(an excellent flatpicker who had played guitar with Jerry Garcia's early
bluegrass band). I have lost track of most of these people, except that I
know Pat Simmons is still around here because I ran into him on a flight to
Hawaii a couple years ago, and John Massey, who has kept up his flatpicking
skills and now lives in Sacramento. For some reason that escapes me now, I
gave up the guitar around 1976 and only recently have I tried to pick it up
again (Recommendation to others: don't even THINK of giving up playing for
twenty years unless the idea of starting over from scratch appeals to you!)
But my interest in and appreciation for Clarence White's playing has never
wavered. I appreciate your efforts, Etsuo, in publishing the CWC. It has
filled in so many "gaps" in my understanding of Clarence, his music, and
those exciting days 20 and 30 years ago that went by in a bluegrass blur.
If you haven't already done so, we subscribers would like to read how you
came to know about Clarence White and how you decided to publish the CWC.
Best regards,
Stan Wolfe
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Date: Thu, 04 Dec 1997 11:08:41 -0800
From: Meridian Green
Subject: Re: CWC website
Hello Etsuo,
Thank you very much for sending me the Clarence White Chronicles and
your kind letter. It is truly a wonderful thing you are doing. Clarence's
contribution to the world of music shall not be forgotten. There will never
be another guitarist or human being the likes of Clarence White.
Please forgive me for not responding to you a bit quicker. We have been
very busy here finishing a project that was started about 14 years ago.
This project is the acoustic StringBender. I'm very proud to say that
we now can offer the new acoustic StringBender to all the acoustic guitar
players who have encouraged us to complete this project for so many years!
I think it appropriate to announce the availability of the acoustic
StringBender to people like yourself and your readers who appreciate who
Clarence White was and what he accomplished.
I only wish Clarence were here today so I could steal off with his Martin D-18
like I did with his Telecaster in 1967 and pop a StringBender into it. My
imagination runs wild when I think what he might do with it!!
Bless your heart Clarence, I sure do miss ya!!
And bless your heart Etsuo for helping keep Clarences's name alive!
All the best,
Gene Parsons
P.S. If you would like to visit our new web site, please contact us at
www.stringbender.com
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Date: Wed, 17 Dec 1997 18:26:49 -0600
From: Mark Bledsoe
Subject: just to say hello
Dear Mr. Eito
Hope everything is well with you. I am doing well.
I know in the past I had supplied the names and ages of my kids.
Bradley Joseph age 11; Brandon James age 9; Haley Jo age 5; Victoria
Marie age 6 mo. My boys must have not seen the section where they were
introduced, but I would like to clarify that. I am proud of my children
and am sure my parents would have been ,too. If you would make this
apparent in yor next newsletter, it would be greatly appreciated. I
apologize for any inconvience.
Sincerely,
Michelle White Bledsoe **
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From: Jon Anderson
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 12:15:22 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Colonels
Etsuo-san,
Just wanted to drop a note of thanks for the Colonels web pages. They fill a
void for sure - not much in the way of Clarence info or pictures on the net.
I am a guitar player in New York, bluegrass and jazz mainly. I listen to all
kinds of music, but for bluegrass - give me the Kentucky Colonels or give me
death! No group has ever achieved the kind of soulful, nay, mystical contact
with the spirit of the music than did those two young brothers at that time.
For me it really isn't a matter of hot picking, but that soul. Clarence's
guitar was a perfect combination of taste, precision and emotion. There has
been no player like him before or since.
Keep up the good work!
Good luck to you, and Happy picking!
Jon Anderson
Brooklyn, New York
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From: scott@stringletter.com
Date: Wed, 7 Jan 1998 11:38:35 -0800
Subject: Great Job
Hi Etsuo,
Somebody forwarded me the first 11 issues of the Clarence White
Chronicles. What a great thing this is. Please add me to your list of
subscribers. Please let your subscribers know that I'm going to be
writing a cover story on Clarence for Acoustic Guitar magazine's June
'98 issue and would appreciate hearing from people with reminiscences
of Clarence, people with information about the guitars he played, and
anyone with photos of Clarence.
Keep up the good work.
Scott Nygaard
Assistant Editor
Acoustic Guitar Magazine
scott@stringletter.com
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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 02:53:33 -0800
From: Michael Varhol
Subject: clarence
Dear Etsuo,
I've been up late reading through your Clarence White Chronicles and was
happy to come across a transcription of Clarence's "Mr. Tambourine Man"
solo from the "Banjoman" soundtrack album which I produced. I first saw
Clarence White when I filmed him with the Byrds at Kansas State
University in Manhattan, Kansas on January 23rd 1973, at a concert held
to honor Earl Scruggs. It was an amazing night of music which later
became the film and LP "Banjoman." The concert featured performances by
Doc and Merle Watson, Joan Baez, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ramblin'
Jack Elliott, Tracy Nelson & Mother Earth, David Bromberg, the Byrds and
the Earl Scruggs Revue. It last all night. The Byrds didn't come on
stage until 3am and Earl closed the show at 7am.
Afterword I heard that there had been incredible jam sessions backstage
with Clarence, Randy Scruggs, Doc Watson and others, but the cameras
missed all that. But we did get good footage of Clarence performing
"Soldier's Joy/Black Mountain Rag" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." By July
of 73 my partner and I had just finished editing the concert sequences
of the film (in Washington D.C.) and had flown to LA to film interviews
with Roger McGuinn and Joan Baez. When we arrived we got the news that
Clarence had been killed the night before. It was a shock to me because
I had just spent the last month editing footage of him playing, and he
wasn't all that much older than me. But I really didn't know much about
him at all, just that he was the guitar player for the Byrds who'd been
killed by a drunk driver. We filmed an interview with Roger McGuinn at
Wally Heider Recording Studios the following night. Roger was shocked
and grief stricken by Clarence's death. He didn't talk much about it,
but he made sure Clarence's guitar stood out when we mixed the music
tracks. I didn't begin to learn about how special a musician Clarence
was until later. As the film got finished I remember Johnny McEuen of
the Dirt Band and his brother Bill, producer of the historic "Will the
Circle Be Unbroken" album talking about seeing Clarence play at the Ash
Grove and how great he was. A recording engineer who mixed the music
for the film one day told me he was giving up playing bluegrass guitar
professionally because he'd just heard some tapes of Clarence White and
he knew that he could never approach his playing. By that time I'd
become a fan of Doc Watson's and still didn't understand what it was
about Clarence until I got the Kentucky Colonels 1965-67 cassette and
heard his solos on "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Then I understood. But it
was Russ Barenberg's Clarence White guitar book that helped me
understand what I was hearing: a guitar style that came out of an
amazing sense of rythmn. I listen to something by Clarence practically
everyday and get so much inspiration from his music. It is nice to know
that his sound still reaches so many and so far.
Michael Varhol
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_________________________________________
| The desk of CLARENCE WHITE CHRONICLES |
| Bluegrass Workshop "North Field" |
| C/O Etsuo Eito |
| 2-13-7,Kitahirano, |
| Himeji,Hyogo, 670 JAPAN |
| |
| PHONE/FAX: +81-792-82-0821 |
| E-MAIL : colonels@ac.mbn.or.jp |
| CQL00071@niftyserve.or.jp |
|_____ _______________________ _____|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | | See You Later.....
________________| |______________________| |_________________________
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***************************
CLARENCE WHITE CHRONICLES
online newsletter
***************************
Editor: Etsuo Eito
E-Mail: colonels@ac.mbn.or.jp
FAX : +81-792-82-0821
_________________________________________
from the foot of the Hiromine Mountain,
in the northern suburb of Himeji,JAPAN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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